Review by xlaurareads - Praise

xlaurareads 's review for:

Praise by Sara Cate

3.5

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i must admit that i'm a little conflicted about this book. although it was incredibly promising at the beginning and, in general, i enjoyed reading it, there were some factors that just aren't sitting quite right with me. first of all, this is obviously a taboo romance and i have no problem with the ex-bf's dad trope or i wouldn't have picked this one up. however, i think there was not enough attention paid to the whole situation and the whole process of resolving things seemed a bit rushed, just as beau's character development. moreover, i didn't really get this minor side story with charlie's dad like what was the point?? what's more, i don't think there's a lot to the characters, i think they all just lack personality and charlie and emerson never really communicated about anything..never, which was super frustrating and annoying. at least before the epilogue, a proper talk would have been absolutely necessary but nope, just more sex. don't get me wrong, the smut was great and i was all there for it but still, this lack of communication was just annoying and disturbed my reading experience. and then there's another, and the most concerning, problem for me with this book: it talks about kinks, bdsm dom/sub relationships etc but definitely lacks setting boundaries from the beginning on in a proper talk, the consent seemed incredibly wishi-washi at some times and the fact that

emerson did not establish a safeword for charlie at the beginning of their dom/sub relationship because "it just wasn't needed until now" (wtf???) is just absolutely horrible. like that's on top of the list when in such a relationship.

i think it's incredibly dangerous, especially for younger readers and readers not too familiar with that scene who are inexperienced to make them think that's how such a relationship should work. although i really appreciated the mention of aftercare and its importance, the book still lacks appropriate display and elaboration on the kinks dealt with which had me take away some stars from my final verdict on the book. i still enjoyed reading it and for me it was a light, fast read, but i do think it's essential to spread awareness on the problematic with the depiction of the kinks displayed and don't trap them into thinking its normal in the scene to handle the situations in the book like they were. afterthought: i loved the trans rep but i think there could've been more to it.

Content Warnings